Inspired by the huge turnout of anti-vax truckies in Canada this week, an Australian version of the rally is planning to converge on Parliament House in Canberra tomorrow.
According to social media reports, truckies, and other motorists, are scheduled to “swarm to Canberra to protest mandates and restrictions” at 10am from all around Australia.
Posts so far suggest that truckies, the vast majority of whom are already double-vaxxed and have diligently complied with health orders for the last couple of years, make up a small minority of the convoy.
But a dedicated GoFundMe page, Oz to Canberra Convoy Official, organised by ‘Ironbark Thunderbolt’ has raised more than $140,000 by Sunday afternoon to help offset costs of those who are taking part.
Big Rigs has approached the organisers to find out more.
Meanwhile, the National Road Freighters Association has already voiced concerns on its Facebook page over how the participants will impact dedicated heavy vehicle rest areas en-route to Canberra.
In Canada, a loosely organised “Freedom Convoy” of trucks set out last weekend from the western province of British Columbia.
According to reports, the convoy ebbed and flowed in size on the way to Ottawa, the capital, and was also bolstered by thousands of motorists joining in along the way.
Canadian truckers rule
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022
The convoy was organised in response to a regulation, implemented this month, that requires truckies returning from the US to show proof of vaccination. But in recent days, it has broadened to include Canadians critical of pandemic restrictions in general, and of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.